PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN MONTANA. o27 



In Missoula County (Montana): Asselin, Jaugras, Moriceau, Lade- 

 route, Lafontaine, Larose, Lavallee, Poirier, Dupuis, Bisson, Ilouille, 

 Carrier, &c. 



In British Columbia. : Allard, Boucher, Boulanger, Danant, Dionnc, 

 Durocher, Palaudeau, Gagnou, Giraud, Lacroix, Lalleur, Napoleon, 

 Perault, &c. 



It is probable that many of these names, especially those beginning 

 with the article la, originated in the wilderness, and, when applied to 

 individuals whose paternity was unknown, were made to designate 

 some peculiarity of body or of mind, or some circumstance of birth or 

 parentage. 



PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN MONTANA, BETWEEN FORT ELLIS AND THE YEL- 

 LOWSTONE RIVER. 



By P. W. Nonius, Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park. 



While crossing from Fort Ellis to the Upper Yellowstone Biver, 

 through Trail Pass, iu the spring of 1870, 1 diverged from the main route 

 upon an ancient, nearly abandoned trail, through an eroded valley, some 

 live miles, to Bight-mile Creek, and thence over the second basaltic ter- 

 race to Bottler's. 



Upon and between these creeks I then, and again in 1875, observed 

 not only the usual stone heaps for winter guides in snowy passes, but 

 also scattered groups of what I supposed to be burial cairns, but had 

 neither time nor tools to examine them. But in July of this year, learn- 

 ing that Squire Petrel, who now has a fine ranch in Trail Pass, had seen 

 some apparently ancient excavations, we together sought and found sev- 

 eral, and I subsequently alone found some larger ones. Within an area 

 of somewhat over a square mile, midway between Trail and Eight-mile 

 Creeks, near the ancient trail, are four distinct groups of ancient shafts, 

 or rather drifts along a vein. The debris was thrown out below the en- 

 trance as iu the ancient copper drifts of Lake Superior. The largest are 

 40 feet long, lit) wide, and 8 deep, but most of them are much smaller. 

 But as an excavation, 5 feet deep, which 1 made in the largest, failed to 

 reach either bottom or side walls, they are all doubtless very ancient 

 and much filled in with eroded materials from the crumbling basaltic 

 terraces. 



One set of drifts was made through the crumbling basalt, for a red or 

 brown mineral paint, evidently not recently, if ever, used by the present 

 red Indians. Another is a line of drifts along the nearly horizontal out- 

 crop of a or 8 inch layer of rock as hard as Hint and as beautiful as 

 moss agale, along a hillside of vitreous limestone. 



The other two groups of drifts are upon veins of a wavy, variegated, 

 colored rock, but it, like the flinty agate last, mentioned, splits with a 

 fracture apparently wholly unsuited for any kind of implement, and 

 none were found there. 



